Thursday, February 28, 2013

When Noam Chomsky spoke at the UA, he said that he wasn't really in favor of MOOCs because he said he didn't really believe in that kind of pedagogical dynamic without a teacher in a classroom. A new study out of Columbia affirms Chomsky's doubts, especially with regard to students of color. The research I've read on online courses, specifically Todd Ruecker's study looking at two Latina/o students in El Paso, found there were numerous factor affecting the success of students with courses requiring online literacy--surprisingly, language wasn't as large a factor as the issue of "self-sponsorship," which I believe others might define as agency, when it comes to accessing technology online.

From the article:
"Di Xu and Shanna Smith Jaggars of Columbia University [writes,]“Specifically,
we found that males, black students, and students with lower levels of
academic preparation experienced significantly stronger negative
coefficients for
online learning compared with their counterparts, in terms of both course persistence and course grades.”
The research team controlled for an impressive array of student
characteristics, class types and demographics, and found a negative
impact across most of their variables. Interestingly, they also looked
at courses where more than 75 percent of the students were at risk, and
found that the presence of at-risk peers made drop out all the more
likely."

Thursday, February 21, 2013

How many puns on Star Wars titles can I come up with? Let's just hope it stops before los ositos Ewok get involved. On SDSU Prof. William Nericcio's Tex[t]-Mex blog, he posted this loteria of Star Wars that he points out having procured from Ph.D. Carlos Amador, UT Austin--a copy of a copy of a simulacra indeed. A testimony to the mainstream recognition of the loteria template, or proof that the Star Wars mythos extends beyond the limits of popular culture that it is enmeshed in non-hegemonic cultural artifacts?

The good news is that yes, Mexican Americans actually make it into space (see Edward James Olmos below.)

Sure, Olmos has made it into the future before, but that was when he was more of a cyber-vato, leaving origami in his wake like some kind of multi-cultural-without-discernible-ethnicity 'Other.'

Monday, February 18, 2013

Yesterday, there was significant discussion by U.N.I.D.O.S about the arrest of Raul Alcaráz Ochoa, a migrant rights activist. I know some people who were going to the rally held today outside of Tucson Police Department, although the coordination between Tucson Police and Border Patrol demonstrates enforcement of SB 1070, which was supposed to be stripped of power.

From the petition to release:"On
February 17, 2013, Rene Meza was pulled over by Tucson Police, and when
he couldn't produce a valid driver's license, Border Patrol Agents were
called to detain Rene. Raul Ochoa, a long time resident and immigrant
rights activist in Tucson, witnessed the incident and simply tried to
stop the separation of yet one more family. Both Raul and Rene were taken into custody by Border Patrol. "

"As of this morning, Tucson immigrant rights activist Raul
Alcaráz Ochoa remained in U.S. Border Patrol custody after being
arrested yesterday. However, the Range has learned that Ochoa was
released this afternoon and will attend today's rally in front of the
Tucson Police Department, 270 S. Stone Ave., at 4 p.m.
The Range first reported on Alcaráz Ochoa's arrest yesterday afternoon and continued to post updates through the night..."

"According to a statement last night from immigrant rights
organization Corazón de Tucson, Ochoa, a community organizer with the
Southside Worker Center and Corazón, placed himself under a Border
Patrol vehicle to prevent BP from detaining and deporting Tucsonan Rene
Meza Huertha.
Meza Huertha was reportedly stopped by TPD at 1:30 p.m. and was
unable to produced a valid driver's license. TPD called Border Patrol to
detain Meza Huertha. Ochoa witnessed what was taking place, noting that
Meza Huertha's six children and his pregnant wife were with him when he
was stopped by police.
At least six Border Patrol agents and four TPD officers on the scene
when Alcaráz Ochoa was pepper-sprayed by Border Patrol, dragged out and
then arrested.
Although Ochoa was released today, Meza Huertha remains in custody,
and supporters at today's rally are calling for his release and an
immediate halt of the cooperation between TPD and Border Patrol.
"This is supposed to be an immigrant friendly city," Garcia told the
Range this morning. "TPD didn't have to call Border Patrol. They are
going against their own counsel. We can no longer point fingers at
Pearce and Arpaio. It's here, too. It's TPD. These kinds of actions are
damaging to Tucson."

Saturday, February 9, 2013

I tried my hand at live-tweeting the opening remarks and presentation by Susan Somers Willet. Not sure how success I was, but experimentation is part of the application of technology--I do see some connection with the fragments I tweeted and the appropriation that is discussed with regard to the aesthetics and practices of hip hop.

"Chuck D said poetry makes the beat come to it & rap more subservient to beat."(Somers-Willet)

A discussion followed about the question of authenticity in Hip Hop, and Somes-Willet made a poignant argument about the theoretical self who argues there is no authentic self in opposition to the non-theoretical self who reads the authenticity of others based on speech, body language, and characteristics related to performance of identity.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Tech writer Tom Johnson spoke with someone interviewing Silicon Valley companies about the technical skills they will need, which remain somewhat uncommon. Because of my interest in digital storytelling, of course I was interested by "Writers who can create instructional video content"--the skill acquired through digital video editing, scene-sequencing, and narration transfer over to this kind of tech communication.

In addition, my interest stems from an upcoming edited collection on the intersection of race and technical communication in which I have a chapter on the use of Twitter by Latin@ students as a response to the growing attention of the Latin@ marketplace. More on that collection later!